Meet Tuanni Price: In my conversation with Tuanni, she explained how she grew up in Los Angeles, traveled internationally as a sommelier, and after multiple visits and community-building in South Africa decided to move to Cape Town roughly a decade after her first visit. She discussed choosing Cape Town for wine and spending significant time in Stellenbosch. Tuanni recounted alternating between accounting contract work and Cape Town visits until COVID forced a permanent move; she described short-term harvest work and building a wine business there. She characterised the move as a personal “love story” with the city.
She also articulated that wine represents community, culture, history, geography, and ritual, and described learning through a friends’ wine club, how that fostered connection and curiosity. I echoed that curiosity and cultural context are key to appreciating wine. The conversation shifted to representation and history, with both Tuanni and I highlighting Black contributions to the wine industry historically and today, pointing to specific historical plantings at Lanserac and noting ongoing efforts to showcase Black excellence and ownership in wine despite past labour exploitation under the apartheid regime. Black labour produced wealth that was rarely documented or attributed to Black individuals. It’s very important to archive and document cultural and economic contributions to correct that historical omission. Our discussion framed documentation as a corrective measure to reclaim recognition and trace contributions across generations.
Tuanni and I also talked about the importance of interpersonal connection and common humanity, and we argued that most people are fundamentally good. We explored the origin of the ‘Sips With Soul’ name and mission, Tuanni explaining it as an attempt to pair wine experiences with cultural warmth and soul traditions while deliberately creating space to highlight and drive customers to Black winemakers and Black-owned hospitality businesses.
The conversation closed with Tuanni presenting the ‘Sips with Soul Tour’ and ‘Afro Wine Week’ as interventions to counter stereotypes through direct cultural engagement.
